


Coparent-In-Chief

by TonyLivesForever94



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Avengers Family, Awesome Pepper Potts, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt May Parker (Spider-Man), Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, Minor Character Death, Minor Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Uncle Happy Hogan, Uncle James Rhodey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:15:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TonyLivesForever94/pseuds/TonyLivesForever94
Summary: Ever since his disastrous Homecoming over a year ago, things have been going pretty well for Peter Parker. School is good. Spiderman is good. His relationship with his mentor, Tony Stark (yes, THE Tony Stark, aka Ironman) is going good. He should have known trouble was just around the corner. Everything is going to change overnight, and Tony and Peter's relationship will never be the same.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	1. Backstory

**Author's Note:**

> Fluff, LOTS of fluff but heavy topics will be featured throughout Coparent-In-Chief. Chapter One does have a couple of sentences talking about the possibility of an eating disorder, and Peter reacts by laughing, which could be, but is NOT meant to be offensive in ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER.

Peter Parker silently slipped through his windowsill, grimacing when the window closed with an exuberant shriek. Praying to whatever God was listening that his aunt was still at work, Peter ripped off his mask and silently crept over to the door to try and hear if May was back yet. 

When Karen had alerted him at 9:30 that a convenience store was being robbed about four blocks over, Peter was confident he could take care of it and be back before his 10:00 curfew. Unfortunately, a mishap with both of Peter’s web cannisters had meant he had to rely on his Spidey-strength to take care of the dude robbing the gas station and he had to walk home. It was nearing 10:20 when he slipped through the windowsill and Aunt May had been due back from work a little after ten.

Hearing nothing, Peter momentarily plopped down on his bed with a sigh of relief. He had already broken curfew last weekend, and May and Mr. Stark had threatened to take away Spiderman privileges for a week if it happened again. 

The thought of Mr. Stark made Peter scrunch his face up as he desperately hoped the man would not decide to randomly check the suit logs.

Last weekend had been a crap show. After a lot of negotiating (and begging on his part), his weekend curfew had been firmly placed at 2:00 AM. He had never broken his weekend curfew until last Saturday when he had been swinging back to his apartment when Karen alerted him to a mugging taking place a few streets over. What Karen did not alert him of was the guy had a gun and was clearly not afraid to use it. 

After dodging about two dozen bullets and webbing the idiot up for the police to find, it was well after 2 o’clock and Peter, rather dumbly, realizing he had not received a call from May or Mr. Stark took it as an invitation to keep Spidermanning. It was 4 o’clock when Peter slipped through his windowsill and nearly died of heart attack when he turned around to discover May and Mr. Stark in his bedroom. After being chewed out and given a firm warning, Peter went to bed just as dawn was breaking over the horizon, determined to never break curfew ever again.

Peter shook his head of the thought but could not help from smiling just a little when he thought of Ironman chewing him out for breaking curfew though. 

Everything had changed between him and Mr. Stark in the weeks and months following Peter’s disaster homecoming.

ONE YEAR AGO

‘So, this is the lab. Don’t blow up anything, don’t set anything of fire, wear goggles, blah, blah, blah.’ Mr. Stark said waving his hands waving his hands in a flippant manner as Peter eagerly twirled around and around trying to take in every aspect of Mr. Stark’s MULTIMILLION DOLLAR LAB. 

‘What do you think, Kid?’ Mr. Stark asked, his signature glasses slid halfway down his nose. ‘It—It’s incredible.’ Peter breathed. And it was. When Peter had turned down Mr. Stark’s invitation to join the Avengers, he thought he might never see the man again, nevertheless be invited to spend a couple of hours with him in his personal lab at the Avengers Compound. 

Mr. Stark smirked.

‘Alright, let’s get started, I want to see how you make—’ his words were cut off abruptly though when Peter spun around one last time to try and take everything in and could not stop the pained gasped from leaving his mouth. He had accidentally pulled on one of the million bruises he was still sporting from his fight with the Vulture.

Mr. Stark’s eyebrows narrowed at him momentarily. ‘Are you—’, he never got to finish his question though before Peter’s eyes rolled back in his head and he hit the ground headfirst.

Peter was barely out for a few seconds, but Mr. Stark was already by his side. ‘Are you hurt? Did you injure yourself on patrol? Do you—?’ Tony rapidly fired off before Peter cut him off. ‘I’m fine, Mr. Stark. Really’, he said trying to push himself off the ground.

‘Fine kids don’t make pained gasps, grab their sides, and collapse.’ Tony shot back. Peter grimaced before replying, ‘It’s fine, Mr. Stark. It’s just some leftover bruises from last week. I must have pulled a muscle or something too.’ 

Apparently, it was the wrong thing to say though because Mr. Stark’s eyes dramatically widened, and he was grabbing Peter by the arm, hauling him up, and marching him to the door of the lab.

‘Mr. Stark, what are you doing? I’m fine. Please, I don’t have to go home because of a bruise.’ Peter nearly yelled, while gently trying to remove his arm from Mr. Stark’s grasp. ‘What—? Go home. No Peter, I’m taking you to the Medbay.’ Peter spluttered, ‘Medbay? Mr. Stark, I don’t need to see a doctor because of a bruise.’ 

‘Well too bad because it’s happening.’ Mr. Stark snarked back.

Two hours later Peter was mercifully drugged up on Captain America’s painkillers, and an IV packed with ‘Vitamins and minerals’ (according to Dr. Cho), had just been removed. Peter looked like a doped-up puppy. Mr. Stark on the other hand looked like he was about to have an aneurism. 

Upon discovering Peter had a healing factor to rival Captain America’s, but it was not working properly because— ‘Peter is malnourished and vastly underweight for a boy his age’, Helen Cho had quipped while rubbing a numbing cream over Peter’s torso, Mr. Stark had vaguely resembled a cartoon character whose head was about to explode. Admittedly, it might have also had to do with the little, teeny tiny fact Peter’s ‘bruise’ was actually two cracked ribs, an entire torso covered in purple and black bruises, and a ‘Torn muscle or two in his back’. 

Now a couple of hours later, Peter was pain-free for the first time in a week and raring to go back to the lab. Tony had a headache and a guilt complex the size of Manhattan. After receiving the go ahead from Helen though, they left Medbay with Peter talking a million miles an hour. It was not until they reached the lab and Mr. Stark had not said anything that Peter registered something was wrong.

‘Mr. Stark—?’ Peter tentatively asked.

Tony cleared his throat before answering. ‘So, um, Kid.’ Tony sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘Do you have an eating disorder, Peter?’

It took Peter a moment to dissect the words as they had come out in one big jumble, but when he did, he burst out laughing and could not stop for several minutes. ‘An eat-eating disorder, Mr. Stark? What? No.’ Tony could not keep the frustration out his tone. ‘Then why are you malnourished and underweight?’

Peter sighed, finally calming down. ‘Mr. Stark, I’m hungry. Like, all the time. Like I could eat all day and never not be hungry. If I even tried to keep up with my metabolism, May wouldn’t be able to pay rent or the utilities.’ Peter shrugged. ‘It’s not a big deal. It’s not like I’m starving.’

Tony grumbled under his breath, ‘Look I can give you money—’, Peter’s mouth gaped like a fish for a couple of moments before he cut Mr. Stark off. ‘No, you can’t. You can’t just give people money.’ Tony looked genuinely confused for a moment before asking ‘Why not?’ Peter just facepalmed himself in reply. 

Tony looked like he was going to argue before his eyes lit up. ‘What days do you have the quiz gamey thing?’

‘The quiz gamey—Decathlon?’ Peter replied. ‘Yeah that.’ Mr. Stark said waving his hand dismissively.

‘Oh, um, Mondays and Wednesdays.’ Mr. Stark grinned. ‘Perfect. You can come here on Tuesdays and Fridays.’

‘Tuesdays and Fridays—’ Peter did not get to finish. ‘Yep. We are making the internship thingy a real deal. FRIDAY be a dear and draft the paperwork would you.’ Mr. Stark interrupted typing furiously on keyboard before a printer went off in the corner of the lab. ‘Alright, here we go. I will just sign here— and here, and you can take this to school tomorrow.’

‘Mr. Stark I can’t—’ Peter said exasperated. 

‘Can’t? You don’t want an internship?’ Tony asked looking quizzically at Peter. 

‘No, no. Of course, I want an internship Mr. Stark. It would be an honour, but I cannot just bring paperwork to school tomorrow with your name all over it. No one would believe me.’

‘Oh—’ Mr. Stark looked confused, head tilting slightly to the side, before he simply shrugged. ‘I’ll bring it myself tomorrow. FRIDAY you got that?’ Peter did not have a chance to protest before FRIDAY replied, ‘Yes Boss. I will alert Mr. Hogan.’ 

‘Thanks baby girl.’

Mr. Stark clapped his hands together. ‘Alright, let’s take a look at the paperwork.’ Before Peter could open his mouth, he was being ushered over to Mr. Stark’s worktable and the internship paperwork was being shoved in his hands. Peter gaped at Mr. Stark for a few more moments before receiving a pointed look from man. He quickly started looking over the ginormous contract. He had not finished the first page though when he startled incredulously, grabbing his chest. 

‘Mister—Stark— $50,000 a year—’ Peter wheezed out. ‘Is it too low?’ Mr. Stark asked quizzically. ‘Too low. Wha-What? No, Mr. Stark. No, you can’t give a high schooler $50,000.’

‘Oh.’ The man seemed dumbfounded for a moment before quickly recovering. ‘40,000?’ Peter frantically shook his head no. ‘30,000?’ Peter shook his head. ‘20,000?’ Peter groaned. ‘No, no. Pay me minimum wage. I’m 14, Mr. Stark.’ This time it was Mr. Stark who spluttered. ‘That’s like $12.50. No way. My janitors make double that an hour.’ 

Peter sighed. ‘You are missing the point, Mr. Stark.’

Tony sighed back. ‘Alright fine, $20.00 an hour and I pay you under the table, so you don’t have to worry about taxes. FRIDAY remove the section about ‘Pay’ from the paperwork and reprint it dear.’

‘$15.00 an hour and I agree to being paid under the table.’ Tony groaned dramatically and rolled his eyes but nodded his head in agreement.

Peter’s shoulders slumped with relief, but they instantly tensed back up when Mr. Stark started to speak again. ‘However, you are going to take this’, he said pulling a sleek card from a drawer beside his worktable. ‘What is it?’ Peter warily asked. ‘A credit card—ahh, no. The adult is speaking. From this day forward I am requiring Spiderman to order a minimum of two large meals while he is on patrol.’ Mr. Stark said triumphantly. ‘So, I imagine this will come in handy.’

‘You. Are. Impossible.’ Peter replied. ‘Does that mean I win?’ Mr. Stark asked with a giant grin. Peter groaned. ‘Yes, fine. You win. Can I make some web fluid now?’ Tony laughed. ‘Yeah Kid. Come on.’

Tony grinned. ‘Hey Kid.’

‘Yeah, Mr. Stark?’ Peter replied looking back at Mr. Stark from where he was reaching for the appropriate chemicals.

Tony cleared his throat nervously. ‘When I was your age I— Tony paused and thought, ‘In college. Angry at the world. Sleeping with a different person every night. Doing drugs. Drinking.’ He coughed slightly and resumed, ‘didn’t have anybody to look out for me and I just want this whole thing to work out. You know?’

Peter smiled understandingly. ‘I know.’

Tony cleared his throat again before looking seriously at Peter—'Should you be making web fluid under the influence of drugs?’

‘Mr. Starkkk—’ Peter whined.

PETER AND MAY’S APARTMENT – QUEENS, NY

Peter laughed lightly at the memory.

It was the next day though that took the cake or maybe Peter should say, it was the next day though that took the ‘Flash’.

Shifting lightly onto his side, Peter cuddled further into his bed sheets as he recalled the day Ironman paid a visit to Midtown School of Science and Technology.

ONE YEAR AGO

Tony Stark confidently strode through the halls of Midtown School of Science and Technology. Dressed in his signature suit and glasses, he was the epitome of Genius Playboy Billionaire Philanthropist.

Walking into the office, Tony waited while the ancient looking receptionist lazily raised her head to acknowledge him. He did not have to wait long though. The woman’s beady eyes widened, and she almost whipped her head off her shoulders when she wheezed/gasped, ‘Tony Stark’.

Tony smirked. ‘At your service Madame. Would you happen to know who I might talk to about some internship paperwork?’

At the same moment though, Principal Morita walked out his office and nearly bowled over the elderly receptionist on his way to greet the man. ‘Mr. Stark, it—it’s an honour. Wha-What can I do for you?’ He asked rapidly shaking Tony’s outstretched hand.

‘I’m just here to drop off some internship paperwork.’ Tony replied, gently trying to retract his hand from the sweaty grip of Principal Morita’s hand. ‘Of course, of course. Um, yes. Which of our 12th graders is it? I will personally take care of the paperwork myself.’

‘Oh, it’s not a 12th grader. Freshman, I think. Peter Parker.’ Tony replied, smirking at the dumbfounded look on the man’s face.

Principal Morita sputtered for a couple of seconds before regaining his composure. ‘Oh, um yes. Of course, I will take care of the paperwork immediately.’ Tony nodded in reply, before thoughtfully asking— ‘Principal, ugh, Dorito was it? Would you mind if I popped into Peter’s class to say hello?’

‘Morita, bu-but Dorito is fine. Of course, I will take you down myself.’

The man turned towards the elderly receptionist. ‘Shirley, find out what class Peter is in.’ The woman nodded did not move until Principal Morita nearly screeched, ‘Shirley.’ The woman jumped, but immediately turned towards the computer. Several long minutes later, the woman made both men startle when she lowly drawled— ‘Mr. Harrington’s first period American History class.’

‘Thank you, Shirley. Mr. Stark if you will follow me.’ Principal Morita hurriedly said, apparently as eager as Tony to get away from the woman who looked like an actor straight out of the Shining.

The walk to Peter’s classroom was less than a couple of minutes, but Principal Morita seemed closer and closer to having a nervous breakdown the further they got down the corridor. He started to say something several times but stopped himself each time. Tony was frankly relieved when they got to the door of the classroom. If he had to see one more drop of sweat drop off Principal Dorito’s head, he was going to be sick.

As the man lightly knocked on the door and reached for the door handle, Tony coughed and swiftly stepped in front of him. ‘I’ll take it from here, Principal Carlito.’ Giving the man his best ‘Tony Stark’ smirk, he turned the door handle and walked in the classroom, barely missing the— ‘Morita, Principal Mor—’. 

For a second the whole class stared in shock.

‘Ton-Tony Stark— ‘, Mr. Harrington stuttered.

The room erupted in chaos.

After a couple of minutes, Tony held up his hand to end the chatter and gave Mr. Harrington his most charming smile. ‘Apologies for interrupting class, I just wanted to say hello to my intern.’

‘In-Intern?’ Mr. Harrington asked. 

‘Yes.’ Tony paused momentarily looking around the room as if he had not already spotted Peter the minute he entered the room. ‘Ahh yes. Peter, there you are.’ Smirking when Peter lightly groaned and pulled his hood further over his head.

The room erupted for a second time.

‘Peter has an internship with Tony Stark?’

‘Peter wasn’t lying about having met Ironman.’

Tony frowned at that one.

‘Woah, Peter is that smart?’

‘No way. It has to be an actor. There’s no way Penis has an internship with THE Tony Stark.’ 

Tony brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. He looked around the classroom. ‘You. Yeah, you in the overpriced green shirt. Come here.’ Tony said looking directly at Flash. Flash gulped, his mouth gaping like a bad impression of a fish for a couple of seconds, before slowly leaving his seat and walking towards the front of the classroom.

When he was close enough, Tony grabbed him by the collar of the shirt ignoring Mr. Harrington’s shocked gasp. ‘Do I look like an actor— What’s your name kid?’ Flash nervously swallowed. ‘Flash, um, Eugene. Eugene Thompson.’

‘Gene, do I look like an actor?’ Tony asked staring directly into the frightened young man’s eyes. ‘N-N-No sir.’ Flash managed to squeak out. ‘Good and if you have any doubt left—’, Tony had the Ironman gauntlet around his hand not currently grasping Flash’s collar in about 0.002 seconds, making Flash and Mr. Harrington let out little screams of horror.

‘Mr. Stark—’ Tony ignored Peter’s pleading voice. ‘Not now kid, Eustace and I are having a chat.’ 

‘Let me make this noticeably clear, Thompson. You ever and I mean ever so much as breath in Peter’s direction again, I will personally make sure you will be flipping burgers for the rest of your life. I have sway with every college and university in a 3000-mile radius, and don’t think I did not recognize your last name. Thompson Petroleum, right? Your father uses my technology to run his business. It would be a shame if Stark Industries decided to pull our contract with him, wouldn’t it?’

Flash nodded vigorously.

Tony let him go, looking up to see Peter looking at him like he was an alien from outer space.

‘That. Was. So. Cool. Peter, that was so cool’, the boy sitting next to Peter said, grabbing Peter’s arm and shaking it exaggeratedly. Tony instantly had an inkling of who he was.

‘Ted, right?’ Tony asked, wincing when they boy squealed an exuberant, ‘Yes’ and ‘Ironman knows my name’ in reply. 

‘Nice to meet you’ Tony said, looking in Ned’s direction before looking back at Mr. Harrington. ‘Once again, apologies for interrupting class.’ He looked at Peter and smirked. ‘See you this afternoon, Pete.’

Waving to a stunned Mr. Harrington, Tony exited the room.

PETER AND MAY’S APARTMENT – QUEENS, NY

Peter huffed when he thought about that day. To this day he had mixed feelings about the whole thing. It was not that he doubted Mr. Stark when he said he would drop the paperwork off himself, but he also kind of thought Mr. Stark would forget or maybe he would send Happy to do it. He CERTAINLY was not expecting Mr. Stark to make a trip to his first period class.

He would not say he regretted what Mr. Stark did. It was nice to go to school and not have Flash constantly taunting him or throwing paper balls at his head, and he and Mr. Stark had grown even closer since that day, but—

It was a little embarrassing when he thought about it. Peter was forced to laugh though when he realized he was thinking about being embarrassed by THE Tony Stark.

Everything had changed over the last year.

It had started with Mr. Stark and his internship days. Days when Happy would drive him from school to the Compound and had started with Peter staying a couple of hours every day.

Then staying a couple more. 

Then staying until 9 or 10 at night. That’s when they added Thursday to Peter’s intern roster.

Three days a week became staying overnight on Friday AND staying overnight on Friday had turned into staying almost every weekend at the Avengers Compound.

Weekends at the Compound had been where Peter met Miss. Potts and Mr. Rhodey. Miss. Potts who cuddled with them on the couch when they were watching movies and who made Peter homemade chocolate chip pancakes every Sunday without fail. Mr. Rhodey who told him hilarious stories about Mr. Stark and allowed Peter to mess around with his robotic legs, even when Mr. Stark grumbled (in jest) about having to ‘fix’ everything afterward.

The biggest change of all was his relationship with Mr. Stark. Side hugs, ruffles of his hair, cuddles on the couch watching Star Wars for the millionth and one time (Peter blushed), and constant texting had become an almost everyday occurrence. When Mr. Stark had to go to Japan for several days a few months ago, the man had video chatted him every day, and when Peter was injured on patrol, Mr. Stark never left his side; Wiping his sweaty hair back and soothing him when the pain threatened to overtake him.

Over the last year, Peter felt like he had gained a second family. It was hard to wrap his head around sometimes, but if eating turkey with Ironman and Pepper Potts on Thanksgiving or decorating a GINORMOUS Christmas Tree with War Machine had not convinced him, nothing else would.

It was not only Peter’s relationship with Mr. Stark that had changed though. May’s relationship had too. After thoroughly chewing him out after the whole ‘Homecoming’ fiasco, they had sat down and talked everything out. May learned how Peter had been out and about in nothing but a onesie when Mr. Stark discovered him, and all of the (million) protocols Mr. Stark had in place to protect Peter. May had, in return, demanded weekly reports from Mr. Stark and those weekly reports had somewhere along the way turned into Ironman eating Thai takeout in Peter and May’s little apartment in Queens every week.

Before Peter knew it, May and Mr. Stark were in regular contact with each other and it was not unusual for Peter to come home to find May talking to Mr. Stark on the phone or video chatting with Miss. Potts. May and Miss. Potts had become instant friends upon meeting, and they had even taken a girl’s weekend together a few a months ago.

Peter had somehow, without even realizing it, gained an odd, dysfunctional family. He would even consider Happy a part of their odd little family. He was still gruff, but Peter knew he cared because of the little things. 

Maybe it was having his favorite Starbucks order in the car waiting when he picked up Peter from school or offering him a ride home after an especially grueling patrol (how he knew Peter was not entirely sure, although he did have a sneaking suspicion Tony had something to do with it, but he appreciated it all the same). Peter knew Happy cared though (deep down under his grizzly bear exterior).

Taking a moment longer to reminiscence Peter groaned loudly in protest but pushed himself off his comfy bed and went to go forage for something in their meager kitchen. Finding nothing but a carton of eggs and a gallon of milk, Peter grabbed some cereal from the top of the fridge and made himself a gigantic bowl in a mixing bowl from the cabinet. He was glad he had stopped by Delmar’s a couple of hours ago, otherwise he would probably be starving all night.

Quickly fixing his cereal, Peter checked his phone to see if he had a missed message from May but was not worried when he did not find one. 

It was not unusual for May to get caught up in a trauma or agree to take a double shift and not have a chance to tell Peter for a little while. It was the life of a nurse and Peter was used to it after all these years of living with Ben and May.

Leaving the kitchen to go take a shower and get to bed before it was midnight, Peter had no idea how his life was about to change forever.


	2. I'm Coming Kid, I'm Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is able to see May for the first time since the accident. May's coworker reminisces about their friendship over the years. Tony finds out about the accident.

PETER AND MAY’S APARTMENT – QUEENS, NY

It was just after 2 o’clock in the morning when Peter was woken from a deep sleep. It took him several seconds to realize why and several seconds longer to make his hands cooperate as he fumbled for his ringing cellphone. 

Managing to (just) barely grab it before it went to voicemail, Peter and sleepily said— ‘Hello?’

‘Peter? It’s, well, I don’t know if you will remember me. It’s Kiara, I work with May at the hospital. I stopped by a couple of times after Ben died?’ 

He was instantly awake. 

‘Um, hi. Is-Is everything okay? Is M-May okay?’ Peter managed to stutter out, breath hitching as an icy sensation slowly crept down his spine.

‘Peter, Baby take a breath.’ The woman kindly instructed before asking, ‘Sweetie, do you think you could come down to the hospital? I know it’s the middle of the night, maybe a neighbor could bring you?’

Peter blew out a breath. A hundred thoughts were running through his head and none of them good.

‘Peter—?’ May’s friend tentatively asked.

‘I-I’ll be there soon’, Peter replied, abruptly ending the call, shoving on a hoodie over his pajamas and pulling on his Spiderman mask. Quickly exchanging the butchered cannisters from the evening before, Peter leapt out his bedroom window, taking to the night sky.

If someone had asked him later about the trip to the hospital, Peter would not have recalled a single moment.

He did not hear when Karen repeatedly asked him why he was out after curfew and if she should alert someone. He did not see when people quizzically looked out their windows wondering why Spiderman was flying around Queens in his pajamas in the middle of the night. He did not smell the dumpster he nearly collided with.

It should have taken him fifteen minutes. He arrived at the hospital in less than five minutes.

Shoulders aching, Peter roughly landed in an alleyway behind the hospital. Ripping off his mask and haphazardly shoving it in his pocket, he literally ran to the front door of the hospital, nearly colliding with a woman who vaguely familiar.

‘Peter?’ The woman asked, glancing down at her wristwatch in confusion.

‘No traffic’, Peter hurriedly replied, anxiously bouncing on his feet.

The woman slowly nodded, still looking confused, before taking a deep breath.

‘Peter, Baby, May was in an accident tonight.’

Peter’s whole world shattered in an instant.

‘What, um, what kind of accident?’ He managed to get out, voice shaking terribly.

The woman looked at him sympathetically. ‘It happened a few hours ago. She was leaving the hospital. She had just stepped out onto the crosswalk when a drunk driver came barreling out of nowhere. Baby, it hit her head-on.’

Peter felt like he was dying. Tears were swimming in his eyes, and he could barely breath. ‘I-Is, is she alive?’ Peter asked, unconsciously holding his breath.

‘Yes.’

Peter let out the breath he was holding.

‘But it’s bad, Sweetie. It’s really bad. She has—’ Peter’s mind was racing far too fast to comprehend anything the woman was saying. He interrupted her midsentence. ‘Can I see her?’ Peter asked imploringly.

The woman hesitated for a moment. ‘Are you sure sweetie? She will probably look a little scary looking.’

Peter did not hesitate. ‘Yes.’

The woman nodded, before motioning for Peter to follow her. After the longest elevator ride of his life, Peter and Kiara arrived.

Slowly walking down the corridor, Peter felt like he was going to be sick. When they had walked about midway down the hall, Kiara stopped short and turned around to look grimly at the boy.

‘Peter, Baby, you have to understand. May is in bad shape. I know you are not in the right state of mind to hear about her condition right now, but I need you to understand before I let you in there, May is not going to look like she did when she left for her shift this morning.’

Kiara placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

‘She's very swollen, Peter. There are tubes and wires everywhere.’

Peter jerkily nodded.

‘I understand.’

The woman hesitated before motioning for the boy to continue following her down the hall.

ROOM 301.

Kiara stopped. ‘We’re here, Peter. Would you like me to go with you?’ Peter nodded in the negative. ‘Alright Sweetie, I’ll check on you in a little while.’

Peter nodded as the woman slowly walked away, reaching, as if in slow motion, to grasp the door handle.

Hesitantly stepping into the sterile room containing May, Peter nearly stumbled back out.

If he had known nothing about the accident, Peter would not have recognized his beloved aunt. The woman in the bed was so swollen he could not discern any noticeable features of the woman who had raised him since he was four years old. Tubes and wires were everywhere, crisscrossing across her body and wrapping around the bed like vines.

Peter gagged, throwing a hand over his mouth.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Peter ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated groan. Peter Parker had an IQ to rival his mentor. Hell, Peter Parker had an IQ to rival Albert Einstein. He knew this was bad.

Shuddering, Peter backed up until he hit the wall, slowly sliding down the wall.

What was he going to do? 

What the Hell was he going to do?

He had no one else.

He was all alone.

Giving in to the tears that had been threatening to overtake him all night, Peter buried his head in his hands and began to sob.

NURSES STATION – HOSPITAL – QUEENS, NY

Kiara sighed.

She had known May Parker for almost fifteen years.

They had started working at the hospital around the same time and had instantly hit it off. Back then Kiara was newly married with a baby and another on the way. The brand-new Mrs. Benjamin Parker had been a Godsend for Kiara, often covering her shifts and working holidays so Kiara could be home with her family.

Kiara had been able to repay the favor when Ben’s brother died and May become a mother overnight. They had remained good friends over the last almost two decades, and it had been Kiara who had rushed to render aid to her fallen friend. It was an image she would never be able to fully erase from her mind. Blood, bruises, debris from the car, people screaming. Kiara was a veteran nurse. She had seen it all, but nothing would ever compare to seeing literal pieces of May’s skull littering the ground.

Calling Peter had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do.

Wearily sitting down on a rolling chair, Kiara tried to figure out what to do next. If May survived AND was not in a vegetative state of some sort, it was going to be a long recovery. Months, a year, maybe multiple years. It was far too soon to tell.

And Peter—God what was the poor kid going to do?

He had no one else.

As if electricity hit her though, Kiara jumped when a sudden thought popped in her head.

FLASHBACK

‘Kiara.’ May Parker called, looking both ways before crossing the street to join her longtime friend.

‘Hey May, what’s up?’ The woman replied in turn, greeting May with a side hug.

May motioned for Kiara to follow her into the hospital.

‘Um, I have a favor to ask you.’ May said, shifting her overnight bag to her other shoulder.

‘Shoot.’ Kiara said looking concernedly at her friend.

‘This is going to sound a bit strange. Actually, really strange, but I am going to give you a phone number and I cannot tell you who it belongs to.’

‘Um, okay.’

‘I know, I know, but if something ever happens to me—’

‘May—’ Kiara tried to interrupt.

May held out a hand. ‘No, just listen, please. If something ever happens to me, I need you to call that number. They will take care of Peter if I’m not able to.’

Kiara hesitated for a moment. It was a strange request.

‘Please Kiki, I’ve known you forever. You are the only one I trust with this.’

Kiara closed her eyes for a minute but nodded and reached out to take the piece of paper from May.

‘Thank you, thank you.’ May said reaching out to hug her friend.

Kiara hugged her back.

‘This better not be the number of some mafia king May Parker.’

May snorted, then outright laughed.

‘I promise it’s not. Come on, let’s get up there before they decide to fire us both.’

END FLASHBACK

The paper.

Where was the piece of paper?

Kiara grabbed her oversized pocketbook, digging through it almost frantically. Pulling out everything except what she was looking for, Kiara was about to give up when she found the wrinkled and slightly yellowed piece of paper in a side pocket. Breathing a sigh of relief, Kiara snatched her phone off the table and quickly punched in the number.

It rung so many times, Kiara was sure it was going to go to voicemail.

Click.

‘Who the hell is this and how did you get this number?’

Kiara floundered for a moment.

‘You have 5 seconds, or I am hanging up and blocking this number.’

‘My name is Kiara Walker. I work with May Parker—’

‘Is May okay? Is Peter? Why are you calling me at 4 o’clock in the morning?’

Kiara rapidly blinked trying to process the multitude of questions the man was throwing her way.

‘Um, May was in an accident tonight. Yesterday evening technically. Um, she gave me this number to call if anything ever happened to her.’

The line was silent for a moment.

‘Does Peter know?’

Kiara almost nodded before replying, ‘Yes. He’s been in here for a couple of hours now.’

‘Is she alive? May. Is May alive?’

‘Yes.’

Kiara heard the man sigh in relief.

‘I’ll be there in 30 minutes.’

The line went dead before the woman could reply.

Looking at her phone in wonderment, Kiara slumped in her chair and Prayed to God she had not just called some psychotic serial killer mafia boss to take care of her friend’s 14-year-old nephew.

AVENGERS COMPOUND – UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, UPSTATE NY

Tony was fiddling around with upgrades on his suit when FRIDAY alerted him to an incoming call. Tony grimaced, hoping it was not Pepper. While his sleeping habits had improved tenfold since the introduction of a certain Spiderling to his life, it was harder when Pepper was out of the country and Peter was not here.

‘Who is it, Baby Girl?’

‘Unknown number Boss.’

That made Tony pause. With the number of fire walls and protections Tony had surrounding his phone number, it was nearly impossible for the average joe to accidently butt dial him. He debated answering, but ultimately signaled for FRIDAY to answer the call.

‘Who the hell is this and how did you get this number?’

Silence.

‘You have 5 seconds, or I am hanging up and blocking this number.’

‘My name is Kiara Walker. I work with May Parker—’

Tony’s right hand instantly reached to grasp his left wrist, heart beating rapidly. ‘Is May okay? Is Peter? Why are you calling me at 4 o’clock in the morning?’

It was quiet for a second. ‘Um, May was in an accident tonight. Yesterday evening technically. Um, she gave me this number to call if anything ever happened to her.’

Oh God. Tony’s breath quickened. May. May was in accident. May was in an accident—Peter, oh God. Peter. Where was Peter? Did Peter know? Was Peter okay?

‘Does Peter know?’

‘Yes. He’s been in here for a couple of hours now.’

Good. Peter was there. Peter was with—Tony’s heart sunk. Was May alive?

‘Is she alive? May. Is May alive?’

‘Yes.’

Tony sighed in relief, before instantly tensing back up. May was alive, but Peter was there by himself. He had to leave. Now.

‘I’ll be there in 30 minutes.’

Swallowing thickly, Tony yelled for FRIDAY to call Happy.

‘Boss?’ Happy gruffly asked, sleep evident in his voice.

‘I’m flying to the city. Pick me up at the Tower. May Parker was in an accident. I don’t know any details.’

Tony could hear Happy moving around in the background when he replied, ‘I’ll be waiting.’

Tony hung up.

Taking a single second to compose himself, Tony raced to the nearest exit and took to the New York sky. All he could think about was his kid. His kid all alone in a cold hospital room in Queens.

Pushing the Ironman suit to the max, Tony ignored FRIDAY’s warnings and singularly focused on getting to Manhattan in record time.

He had a kid to get to.


	3. I'm Here Kid, I'm Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony arrives at the hospital and learns the extent of May's condition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a medical doctor. Let me repeat, I AM NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR. I know nothing. NOTHING. Take everything with a grain of salt.

‘We’re here, Boss.’ Happy solemnly quipped looking over at the man in the passenger seat. Tony did not reply, but Happy knew the man heard him by the tightening of his grip on the door handle.

Tiredly rubbing his hands over his eyes, Tony nodded at Happy and exited the vehicle.

He did not bother with a ‘disguise’ (a hat and sunglasses), instead walking directly into the emergency entrance of the hospital and approaching the desk to the left of the room, ignoring the multitude of gasps and mutterings he could hear from almost every direction.

‘What room is May Parker in? She works here and was in an accident last night.’ Tony asked tiredly leaning on the desk.

The doctor and nurse looked at him like he had two heads.

Not in the mood to deal with the gawking, Tony loudly cleared his throat and repeated his query.

‘Oh, um, hang on.’ The nurse replied, sharing an incredulous look with the doctor standing behind her.

‘Room 301, 3rd floor.’

Tony waved his hand in acknowledgment already moving towards the elevator.

Sighing in relief when nobody else entered the elevator with him, Tony allowed his body to slump against the wall of the elevator.

Willing the elevator to simultaneously move faster and slower at the same time, Tony let out a low groan when the elevator dinged to indicate its arrival on the 3rd floor. Exiting the elevator, Tony hesitantly walked down the corridor, jumping when a woman’s voice interrupted his musings.

‘I should have known it was you. May was so proud Peter had an internship with you. She told everybody in a 5-mile radius.’ Tony spun around to see a beautiful, but exhausted dark-skinned woman in Snoopy scrubs.

Calming his racing heart, Tony asked, ‘Kiara, was it?’

The woman nodded.

‘Thank you for calling. Um, sorry about the greeting.’

The woman let out a soft laugh. ‘It’s alright. If I was Tony Stark and a strange woman called me in the middle of the night I probably would have reacted the same way.’ The mirth in her eyes almost immediately died away though.

‘It’s bad Mr. Stark. It’s bad.’ Tony felt his shoulders tense up.

‘What happened last night?’

Kiara filled him in on the drunk driver and the accident.

‘Her condition?’

Kiara looked grim. ‘Massive head trauma. Massive chest trauma. Internal bleeding. Skull fracture. Punctured lung. Damage to the spinal cord. She coded four times during surgery. The doctors have her in a medically induced coma.’

Tony had to grab onto a beam for support. ‘Prognosis?’

‘Too soon. The next 72 hours will be critical, and the next week as a whole will determine her overall prognosis, recovery. Mr. Stark—’

‘Tony, call me Tony.’ Kiara paused for a moment before continuing. ‘Tony—It’s almost inevitable if May recovers she will likely have severe to extreme brain damage. It could range from behavioral and cognitive deficiencies to a full-on vegetative state.’

He was going to be sick.

Swallowing the bile climbing up his throat. Tony rapidly blinked. It was too much to process. He had just talked to May yesterday. Peter got a C on his last Spanish test and they had been discussing if they should shave a couple of hours off his patrol time for the next couple of weeks. It felt like a lifetime ago now.

‘I need to see Peter.’

Kiara nodded. ‘Just down the hall. It will be on the right. I checked in on him about 15 minutes ago. He was asleep on the floor. I didn’t have the heart to wake him.’

Tony pushed himself away from the beam and nodded at the woman in front of him.

‘Thank you, for everything. For being there for Peter. For May.’

Kiara smiled.

‘I’ve known May for almost fifteen years, Mr. Stark—Tony. I would never leave her. Or Peter.’

Tony nodded in reply. ‘You should go home, Mrs. Walker. You’ve had a long night.’

‘I will, but only if you call me Kiara and promise to keep in touch.’

‘I will—’ Tony grimly smiled, ‘Kiara.’

Turning around and taking a deep breath, Tony made the trek to May’s hospital room.

Slowly and quietly pushing the door open, Tony nearly blacked out. The woman in the bed was not May Parker. It was just not possible. May Parker was a stubborn mule and Tony meant that in the best way possible. May was vibrant. May was loud and crass. May Parker was not a woman to be double-crossed. This woman was—vulnerable. Weak. Looked like she was knocking on Death’s door.

Tearing his eyes away from the woman on the bed, Tony’s eyes quickly narrowed in on the small figure laying on the floor. 

Not hesitating a single second, he quickly moved to the boy’s side. Lowering himself to the floor, Tony reached out and gently shook the shoulder closest to him. ‘Pete, hey Buddy, wake up.’ The boy whined lowly, eyelids slowly blinking as he adjusted to the harsh overhead light. Tony could tell the moment the evening caught up to the boy. His whole body tensed, and tears rushed to his eyes. He nearly shoved Tony out of the way when he went to move his body in the direction of his aunt. Hurriedly moving to the side to avoid an errant elbow to the eye, Tony tightened his hold on Peter’s shoulder, making Peter realize he was not alone.

‘M-M-Mr. Stark?’ Peter asked in disbelief.

‘Yeah Bud.’

To Tony’s horror (and Peter’s humiliation), Peter burst into gut wrenching, heart breaking tears. The kind that you felt deep down in your soul. The kind that would make the hardest of men breakdown. Running on pure instinct, Tony immediately gathered the boy in his arms. Moving to lean against the wall, he immediately begin to whisper nonsensical words to the distraught boy.

‘It’s alright, Underoos. I’m here. Shh, it’s going to be okay.’

For several long minutes, Peter sobbed, and Tony fretted. However, after a couple of minutes, Peter’s sobs gave way to sniffles and full body shudders. Tony closed his eyes in relief. ‘It’s alright, Buddy. It’s alright.’

Peter sniffled, head laying on Mr. Stark’s chest, arms and hands tightly gripping the back of his t-shirt.

‘H-How did you know?’

‘Mrs. Walker, Kiara called me. May gave her my number.’

‘M-M-May—’ Peter began to hyperventilate.

‘Shh, shh, shh. I know. I know.’

‘What if, w-what if she doesn’t s-s-survive?’ Peter asked breath increasingly quickening. ‘I-I-I’m all alone.’

‘First of all, take a deep breath. In for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight. Four—Seven—Eight. Four—Seven—Eight. Good job, Underoos. Good job. Second, look at me Peter. You are not alone. You have me. You have Pepper. You have Rhodey. You have Ned. You have Scary Spice—’

Peter softly snorted, making Tony smile. ‘Hell, you even have Happy. You are not alone, Kid.’

‘But, but where am I going to go, Mr. Stark?’

Tony sighed. ‘For a kid with the IQ of a genius you sure are stupid sometimes Parker.’

Tony rearranged them so Peter was looking up at him. ‘You are coming home with me Peter. May and I arranged things a while back. You don’t have to worry about anything.’

Peter’s bottom lip trembled. ‘Yeah?’

Tony nodded. ‘Yeah.’

Peter took a shuddering breath. Gently pulling away from Mr. Stark and using his sleeve to wipe his eyes, Peter rearranged himself to sit beside Mr. Stark, instantly cuddling in when the man wrapped an arm around him.

It was quiet for a few minutes, Peter’s eyes never straying from his aunt. ‘Mr. Stark, it’s bad right?’

Tony was silent for a moment. ‘Yeah Bud, it’s bad.’

‘Will you tell me?’

Tony looked down at Peter. ‘Are you sure, Pete? It can wait.’

Peter hesitated but nodded.

Tony did not hold back. He told Peter everything, including what Kiara said about possible brain damage. He knew it would only hurt Peter in the long run if he did not tell him everything upfront.

Peter’s sniffles increased but he did not outright cry again.

‘You alright?’ Tony asked concernedly (before inwardly chastising himself). Of course, the kid was not alright.

‘Yeah, just tired.’

‘We can stay here, but I think May would want you to go get some rest Pete. She is not going to wake up for a while, Bud.’

For a minute, Tony thought Peter was going to refuse.

To his surprise though, Peter slumped further against Tony and nodded his head in agreement.

‘Alright, I am going to find May’s doctor and give him my contact information. Do you wanna come with or—?’ Peter shook his head in the negative. ‘Um, no. Can I have a minute alone with May, Mr. Stark? No offense. Not that I do not want you here—’

Tony immediately shushed him. ‘Shh Pete. Calm down. Of course, you can. I’ll be out there when you are done.’ Gently hugging the boy to him, Tony kissed the side of his head and sighed before pushing himself off the floor, groaning when his back and knees protested. Reaching down to help the boy up, Tony made sure the kid was steady on his feet, before squeezing his shoulder and stepping out of the room.

Walking down to the nurses station, Tony approached the first person he saw. He had barely opened his mouth though when the young woman interrupted him.

‘Mr. Stark, Kiara told us to expect you. Should I page May’s doctor?’

‘Yes—’ Tony cleared his throat. ‘Yes, thank you.’

The woman smiled at him. ‘He will be here in a minute.’

Tony nodded.

It was less than a minute when a man approached him. ‘Mr. Stark?’ Tony shook his head in answer.

‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark. I just wish it was under better circumstances.’ Tony replied with a similar sentiment, shaking the man’s outstretched hand.

The man sighed before releasing Tony’s hand. ‘I think Kiara told you the basics, but I have to be clear Mr. Stark—Nurse Parker should not be alive. I have never, in my whole career, seen a patient survive with this combination of injuries. The chance of medial recovery is almost nonexistent. Brain damage is certain. We also have to consider the damage to her spinal cord.’

Tony frustratedly rubbed his hands over his eyes.

‘What do I need to know right now, Doc?’

‘You know what we know, Mr. Stark. It will be nearer to the end of the week before we know anything definite. Take Peter home. Get some rest. Visiting hours are 7AM-7PM, but May and Peter are family. He’s welcome here anytime, you too. I will call you if anything changes.’

Tony nodded, shaking the doctor’s hand once again.

It was perfect timing because out of the corner of his eye Tony saw Peter slowly exiting May’s room. Eyes shining precariously, Peter almost flew to Tony’s side. Not bothering to say anything, Tony wrapped an arm around the shivering boy and led him to the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, Tony pulled out his phone (arm never leaving Peter).

It rung twice. 

Click.

‘Boss?’

‘Hey Hap, I’m coming down with the kid.’

‘I’ll be there.’

Tony ended the call.

Ding.

Tony and Peter exited the elevator, Peter almost immediately pulling the hood of his sweater over his head. Tony did not blame him. Almost every employee in the emergency room was looking at the boy with a mixture of sadness and pity, not to mention the amount of people gawking and not so subtly pointing their fingers at Tony.

Leading Peter out of the hospital, Tony led him straight to the car where Happy was already waiting beside the back passenger door to let them in.

‘Hey Kid.’

Peter gave Happy a watery smile in return, lowering the hood of his sweater.

Tony moved past Peter to go ahead and slide into the car. Motioning for the boy to follow him in, Tony pulled the boy over to the middle seat, fastening the seatbelt around his waist. ‘Lay down Pete.’

Peter laid his head on Tony’s lap, pulling his feet up on the backseat and closing his eyes.

Giving Happy a nod to drive. Tony closed his own eyes. Fingers threading themselves through Peter’s hair.

Waiting until he was sure Peter was out of it, Tony quietly spoke. ‘When we get to the Compound I need you to do a couple of things.’ Waiting for Happy to acknowledge him, Tony went on, ‘Call Pepper. Fill her in. Ask her to call our lawyers. Oh, and ask her to call Peter’s school. I also need you to go to the Parker’s. Pack Peter a bag. Grab his clothes, the Spiderman suit, his school bag. Whatever else you think he might like out of his bedroom. Grab a couple of pictures too.’

Tony paused trying to think of what else.

‘Empty the fridge. Go ahead and arrange for our maid service to take care of the place for the foreseeable future. I will take care of the rent for the next year or so when I get a chance—’ Happy made a little sound making Tony pause.

Meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror, Tony raised an eyebrow.

Happy nervously cleared his throat. ‘Maybe, maybe that’s a little premature?’

Tony’s brow furrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

‘The rent. I mean, I don’t know the details, but I imagine it’s pretty bad if you need Pepper to contact the lawyers.’

Shoulders tensing, Tony almost snapped at the man. A year ago, Tony would have snapped at the man. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Tony took a moment to think before he replied.

Everything changed the day Tony Stark met Peter Parker. It would take him a while to realize it, of course. Hell, it would take Peter almost dying for Tony to realize it (something he still had nightmares about). Some people would say Peter Parker had made him soft. Tony disagreed.

Peter Parker made him better. 

He slept more. Drank less. Weekends were spent cuddling on the couch with his fiancée and kid (instead of drinking until he could not remember his own name). He actually showed up to board meetings. He was not as quick to react.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tony took a moment further to compose himself before replying to his bodyguard turned friend. 

‘Massive head trauma. Massive chest trauma. Internal bleeding. Skull fracture. Punctured lung. Damage to the spinal cord. She coded like a million times during surgery. The doctors have her in a medically induced coma.’

‘Christ—’ Happy wheezed out.

‘It probably is premature, but I feel like I have to do something, Hap.’

Happy nodded understandingly, eyes straying back to the road.

Leaning his head back, Tony closed his eyes again before speaking up again. ‘Oh, and Hap, grab the quilt off the back of the couch.’ Not bothering to elaborate. Tony nodded off to the soft breathing of his sleeping kid.

AVENGERS COMPOUND – UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, UPSTATE NY

‘Boss, Boss wake up.’

Tony jerked awake nearly dislodging Peter from his lap.

‘Are we here?’ He asked, voice rough.

‘Yeah.’

Tony nodded.

‘Thanks Hap.’

Opening the door, Tony carefully extracted himself from Peter. Holding his breath when the boy shifted in his sleep. Motioning for Happy to keep quiet, Tony gathered the boy in a bridal hold and delicately stepped backwards. Waiting for Happy to close the door, Tony followed Happy into the Compound Garage and to the underground elevator.

Nodding to Happy, Tony quietly asked FRIDAY to take them to his private floor.

Stepping into the elevator, Tony shared one last solemn look with Happy before the doors closed. He did not know what the next days, weeks, months, Hell, even years held, but he knew without a doubt he would be there for Peter every step of the way.


	4. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has doubts. Peter's emotions are all over the place. Tony reveals a deeply personal memory of Edwin Jarvis to Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a medical doctor. Let me repeat, I AM NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR. I know nothing. NOTHING. Take everything with a grain of salt. I am not a lawyer. Let me repeat, I AM NOT A LAWYER. I know nothing. NOTHING. Take everything with a grain of salt.
> 
> I consider this chapter more of an interlude. Chapter 5 will take place the day after Peter and Tony find out about May's accident, and will feature appearances by Pepper, Rhodey, and Ned (via text). Some major discussions will also take place in Chapter 5.
> 
> PLEASE NOTE, all texts between characters will be IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

AVENGERS COMPOUND – UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, UPSTATE NY

Peter slowly woke up. It took him several minutes to orient himself to his surroundings and several minutes longer to realize he was in his bedroom at the Compound. Frowning, he tried to recall if he had injured himself on patrol or if a lab day had runover. Coming up blank Peter went to get out of bed when two things happened simultaneously.

First, was the wave of dizziness that almost had him falling out of bed.

Second, was the rush of memories making him realize why he was at the Compound.

Peter did not have time to dwell on the sudden rush of memories and emotions, however. He could not say if it was the image of Mr. Stark nearly busting down his bedroom door in his haste to get to Peter after FRIDAY alerted him to Peter’s near fall, or if it was afterwards when Mr. Stark was leaning over with his hands on his knees clearly out of breath, but Peter burst out laughing.

For several minutes it was as if the accident had never happened.

Peter laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed some more.

And then just as quick as it came, it went.

Peter sobered up almost immediately, tears filling his eyes.

‘Oh Buddy’, Tony almost cooed. ‘It’s alright Pete, May would want you to laugh.’

Peter nodded but refused to look at Tony.

Tony just sighed. Moving over to sit beside Peter on the bed, he wrapped an arm around the young man.

‘How are you feeling?’

Peter shrugged.

‘We’re going to be here all day if you do not give me a hint.’

Peter huffed.

‘You know? I think this mattress might be even more comfortable than mine. I could probably sleep all day. Not to mention you have a PlayStation AND Xbox. Pep would kill me if I installed a gaming system in our room—’

‘I’m sad.’

Tony immediately shut up.

‘I-I-I’m—’ Peter’s voice trailed off.

‘You’re what Pete?’, Tony gently prompted.

‘I-I’m embarrassed’, Peter whispered.

Tony was genuinely confused. ‘For what?’

Peter groaned. Dramatically flopping back onto the bed, Peter continued. ‘For, for crying all over you like a baby.’

‘Oh Pete’, Tony soothed. ‘You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Do you know how many times I cried all over Rhodey or Pepper after a 5, 7, 8, Hell 9-day _binge_ of, well—’, Tony rubbed the back of his neck and nervously cleared his throat.

Peter raised an eyebrow.

Tony rolled his eyes. ‘Never mind, but you have no reason to be embarrassed Peter. None at all. So—’, Tony awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, ‘get over it Kid.’

Peter huffed a laugh. ‘Great pep talk, Mr. Stark.’

Tony could not resist. ‘Obviously, Pep is the ‘Pep Talker’ in this family.’ Peter groaned. ‘That was so lame, Mr. Stark.’

Tony pretended to be hurt, gasping, and dramatically grabbing his chest.

Peter slowly sat back up, leaning against the older man.

‘What time is it?’ Peter asked.

‘Just after five’.

‘5PM?’, Peter asked incredulously.

‘Yep’, Tony said popping the ‘P’.

‘H-Have you heard from May’s doctor?’ Peter hesitantly asked. Tony sighed, wrapping his arm around Peter again. Truthfully, Tony had spoken to May’s doctor every hour since they had arrived back at the Compound this morning. It had not been a good day.

May coded twice. After the second time, with Tony’s permission as May’s POA, they had taken her back to the OR to relieve the swelling in her brain. She had coded again during surgery. She was resting comfortably now, and Kiara and the rest of the nurses on May’s shift were taking turns sitting with her, but it was not looking good and Tony knew it.

‘She had a rough day, but she is resting comfortably. Mrs. Walker is with her.’

Peter let out a shuddering breath but nodded relievedly. Tony felt slightly bad for misleading him, but the kid was barely hanging on as it was. Squeezing Peter to him, Tony kissed his head and released him. ‘Come on, Kiddo. Your blood sugar is probably tanked.’

Pulling the boy to his feet, Tony made sure he was steady on his feet before urging him to go wash his face. Waiting for Peter to close the door, Tony asked FRIDAY to keep an ear out for him and quickly left the room. Arriving in the kitchen, Tony allowed himself a moment of uncertainty.

Taking the moment to compose himself, Tony leaned heavily on the counter in front of him. He was not cut out for this. Doubts had been plaguing him all day. How was he, Mr. I’m-Allergic-To-Emotions, meant to console a grieving, emotionally vulnerable teen who last living relative was fighting for her life? Tony Stark was notorious for being an emotionally inept bastard. Hell, it was no secret to anybody but Captain America that Tony’s own father was a grade-A-bastard who had berated his own son for crying about a broken arm when he was in the 5th grade.

Everything had changed with the introduction of Peter in his life, but no one could change overnight and as far as Tony had come over the last year, he still struggled with the concept being responsible a whole kid. A kid who he could screw up at any opportunity. To this day he had no idea what May Parker was thinking when she cornered him into agreeing to take care of Peter if something happened to her.

‘Mr. Stark?’

Tony jumped. ‘Jesus Pete—’, Tony wheezed. Clearing his throat (and clearing his head), Tony motioned for the boy to take a sit at the counter. Immediately taking note of how shaky the boy was, Tony inwardly cursed himself for getting lost in his thoughts, instead of making something to eat. It was well over 12 hours since Peter last ate (and drank), and Tony knew with the kid’s metabolism it was not a good combination.

‘Um—’, nearly running to the fridge, Tony grabbed a tall glass and filled it to the brim with orange juice. ‘Drink.’ He ordered, shoving the glass in Peter’s hand. Looking away from Peter, Tony turned his attention to getting food in the kid. ‘FRIDAY be a dear and order our usual from the pizzeria downtown. Add a large salad and an order of breadsticks.’

‘You got it Boss.’

Noticing Peter looking at him intently, Tony turned away, calling for the boy to finish his orange juice. Peter complied, downing the rest of it. Setting the glass on the counter with a soft clink, Peter tentatively asked his new guardian if he was alright. Tony hesitantly turned back around. ‘I’m already screwing this up.’

Tony thought the boy would respond confusedly. Peter being Peter though immediately understood. Smiling at his new guardian and reaching over the countertop to clasp his mentor’s hand, Peter stuttered slightly, but never looked away from his mentor’s eyes while he was speaking.

‘Y-You aren’t already screwing this up. You let me cry and snot all over you. And I’m not stupid, Mr. Stark. You could have told May no. I would probably be in some random group home right now if you had not stepped in. You aren’t screwing up. A-And if you do—’. Peter nervously shrugged. Clearing his throat, ‘If you do it’s alright because all parents do.’

Looking away from the man to intently study the ceiling, Peter would never see the huge grin that blossomed over his mentor/father figure’s face. He would however feel the giant bear hug his mentor wrapped him in not a full minute later.

‘Thanks Kid.’ Tony roughly muttered. Voice full of choked up emotion.

Peter smiled.

Tony pulled away first, wiping a rough hand over his eyes. Reaching over to smooth back Peter’s sleep tussled hair, Tony cleared his throat and went to go forage through the cabinets hoping to find something to tide Peter over until their food arrived. Finding a box of Krave cereal, he waved it in Peter’s direction, laughing when he received an enthusiastic nod.

Fixing Peter a bowl, Tony handed it over to the boy and discreetly pulled out his phone. He had a missed call from Pepper and a couple of texts from Rhodey, but (he relievedly noted) no missed calls from the hospital.

Tony pulled up Rhodey’s texts.

ARE YOU OKAY? IS PETER? I’M TAKING EMERGENCY LEAVE. BE THERE IN A FEW HOURS.

TONY, COME ON MAN. ANSWER ME.

Tony instantly replied back.

I’M FINE. PETER IS HANGING IN THERE.

YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT, BUT I KNOW PETER WILL APPRECIATE IT.

SEE YOU IN A LITTLE WHILE.

Briefly looking up to check on Peter who was still busily chowing down on his cereal, Tony hit the call button and casually exited the room.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

‘Tony?’

‘Hey.’

‘Hey’, Pepper replied breathily— ‘How is Peter?’

‘Hungry. Emotional. Exhausted. All of the above.’ Tony wearily replied.

‘How are you?’

Tony wirily smiled, ‘All of the above.’

Pepper huffed a laugh.

‘I will be there soon. My flight lands in two hours. I talked to the lawyers again. All the paperwork is filed. The Department of Family and Children Services might check in, but they should not bother you. May was smart to ask you to do it in front of a notary AND have our lawyers sign as witnesses.’

Tony hummed in agreement. ‘May Parker is a smart woman. Like somebody else I know.’

He could practically hear the smile in Pepper’s voice when she replied. ‘Oh yeah. Anyone I need to be worried about Mr. Stark?’

‘Maybe 12% worried.’

Pepper laughed.

‘I’ll be there soon Tony, so will Rhodey. We will get Peter though this, I promise. Regardless of what happens.’

Tony sighed. ‘I know Pep, I know. Thank you.’

‘I will see you soon. Bye Tony.’

Click.

Smiling down at his phone, Tony pocketed it and went back into the kitchen.

‘Finish your cereal?’ Tony asked, laughing when he accidentally startled the boy.

‘Yeah.’ Peter replied sheepishly.

‘Pep says hi. She and Rhodey will be here in a couple of hours.’

Peter’s eyes went wide. ‘They didn’t have to do that. I don’t want them to get in trouble.’

Tony rolled his eyes.

‘Chill Kid. I own the company Pepper works for and Rhodey took emergency family leave. It’s fine.’

Peter blushed. ‘Family leave?’ Tony nodded. ‘Yeah Kid. Family leave.’

Peter nodded still blushing but decided to change the subject.

‘Have you heard from the hospital or Mrs. Walker?’

Tony instantly frowned. ‘No Buddy. I was going to call after we ate. Don’t worry if anything happens somebody will contact us.’ Peter sighed and nodded.

Tony was going to say something else to reassure the boy, but FRIDAY interrupted him to announce their food had arrived.

An hour later Peter was dozing off at the end of the couch and Tony was not much better. Tony had put away an entire pizza, a large helping of salad, and several breadsticks. Peter had put away FOUR large pizzas, the rest of the salad, and all but a couple of the of the breadsticks. It never failed to impress Tony but this evening he was glad to see the boy eat so heartily. Peter desperately needed the food for his metabolism and Tony had been worried the stress would impact his appetite.

Gently pushing himself off the couch, Tony tiptoed out of the living room, hoping Peter would keep dozing. It had been a couple of hours since he called May’s doctor or Kiara. Stepping into the half bath and turning on the overhead fan, Tony hit the call button.

‘Hey Tony.’

‘Hey Kiara, any change?’

‘No, but that’s good. She has been stable since they revived her in the OR.’

Tony relievedly sighed.

‘Good, good.’

‘How is Peter doing?’

‘Good. He ate an enormous amount of pizza and he’s out of it on the couch.’

The woman softly laughed. ‘I’m glad. I will be here a few more hours and then our friend Abby will take over.’

Tony hummed in acknowledgment.

‘You alright?’

Tony hesitated before replying. ‘Yeah, just a little overwhelmed.’ Tony could practically hear the woman biting her lip to stop herself from saying something. Kiara sighed. ‘I have to go but I will call you before I leave, alright?’

Tony closed his eyes in relief. He knew the woman would mean well, but they had barely met twelve hours ago and he was not in the mood for a lecture about how May Parker apparently trusted him enough to take care of her kid. 

‘Thanks Kiara.’

‘No problem.’

Click.

Tony sat the phone to the side and took the opportunity to throw some cold water on his face. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Tony cringed. He had dark circles underneath his eyes and his whole appearance was generally haggard. He had never went to bed before he received the call about May and besides his impromptu nap in the car earlier, it was pushing over 24 hours since Tony had last slept for any meaningful amount of time.

Sighing, Tony wiped his face with a hand towel and gave himself one last look in the mirror before opening the door and asking FRIDAY to turn off the bathroom light and overhead fan. Walking back out to the living room, Tony was disappointed to see Peter anxiously looking around the room. Although Peter had slept for almost 12 hours, he was hoping the food would knock the kid out for the count. He knew Peter would likely want to go and see May tomorrow, and it was going to be a big day regardless, as a host of decisions would have to be made sooner rather than later.

‘Hey Kid.’

Peter’s whole body slumped with relief.

‘Hey Mr. Stark.’

Tony walked back over to where he had been sitting earlier. ‘You alright?’

Peter nodded. ‘Yeah, yeah just— Kind of woke up anxious.’

Tony nodded understandingly.

‘Um, did you, have you called the hospital yet?’

Tony nodded slowly, hoping the kid would not be upset for not including him on the call. ‘Yeah I did. I called Mrs. Walker a few minutes ago. No change, but that’s good.’ He said the last part in a rush hoping to reassure the boy.

Peter nodded but did not respond.

‘Are you mad?’ Tony asked not beating around the bush.

Peter’s head whipped up. ‘What? No, no Mr. Stark. I’m not mad, I’m j-just— It was stupid.’

Tony immediately understood.

‘It’s not stupid Pete. Everybody in this situation feels the same way. I’ve, I’ve told you about Edwin Jarvis before, right?’ Tony asked turning his body to face away from Peter.

‘Yeah’, Peter quietly replied, sensing his mentor was about to share something deeply personal to him.

Tony coughed, elbows coming to rest on his knees, hands clasping together. ‘Jarvis died of kidney failure. I-I wasn’t a great person back then Kid, I refused to go visit him in the hospital. Brushed off his calls, refused to take his messages. One evening, his wife, Anna, showed up at my doorstep. Told me he was dying and was not going to make it through the night. Also told me a bunch of other stuff you don’t need to hear. It was all true, of course, but—’ Tony’s voice trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. Shaking his head slightly and clearing his throat again, Tony continued, ‘I went to the hospital. Refused to leave his side the rest of the night.’

Tony looked up to capture Peter’s eyes.

‘Peter, I was convinced a miracle was going to happen, HAD to happen. Jarvis couldn’t die. He was invincible. Fu— Ugh, fudge [Peter snorted, making Tony smile] Jarvis stood up to Howard Stark on the regular. He _was_ a superhero. Peter— If May Parker woke up tomorrow, magically healed and shooting lasers out of her eyes, I wouldn’t ask a single question. I would just be grateful.’ 

Peter laughed, eyes filling with unshed tears.

‘It is never stupid to _hope_. I would give up Dum-E if it meant Mrs. Walker would call us right now and tell us May is awake and talking.’

To anybody else, offering to give up a hydraulic arm robot might have sounded strange but to Peter it meant the world. He knew (despite how many times Mr. Stark threatened to sell them) Dum-E and U were incredibly special to the older man.

Peter offered the man a watery smile, shuffling over to melt into his mentor’s side.

‘Wanna watch Star Wars?’ Tony asked, wrapping an arm around the boy.

‘Yeah.’ Peter agreed, roughly swiping a hand over his eyes.

‘The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi?’

Peter playfully rolled his eyes. ‘Do you have to ask, Mr. Stark?

‘You heard the kid, FRIDAY. Play The Empire Strikes Back.’

Reaching an arm around the boy to grab the quilt off of the back of the couch, Tony tucked it around the boy, indicating for FRIDAY to cut off the lights. Propping his legs up on the coffee table, Tony leaned back against the cushions, content, at least for the moment, to allow his worries to drift away to the voices of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher.

Peter sniffed, for the first time all day from happiness rather than sorrow, as Mr. Stark wrapped his favourite blanket in the whole world around him. He had no idea how it had gotten from his apartment in Queens to here, but he did not care. He was grateful for it all the same. The quilt was made out of hundreds of his father’s old science pun t-shirts. According to his Uncle Ben, his dad had started collecting them when he was a teenager and by the time he died, Richard Parker had amassed hundreds of them.

With Uncle Ben’s blessing, Aunt May had the blanket made for him the first Christmas after Peter came to live with them. It had comforted him on the darkest of nights and the lightest of days. Today was no different.

He had no idea what would occur tomorrow, but for tonight he was content in the knowledge May was alive and he was safe and _loved_ in the arms of his father figure. 


	5. Early Morning Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring 'Word Vomit', nervous Peter and several early morning conversations with his friends and family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a medical doctor. Let me repeat, I AM NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR. I know nothing. NOTHING.
> 
> Guys, I have been on the struggleee Busss. This chapter did not want to come. I am not very happy with it, but I think I just need to post it so I can move on to the next part. 
> 
> PLEASE NOTE, all texts between characters will be IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

730 PM EST

Awareness came back slowly for Tony.

Flashes of light.

A soft feminine voice.

A deeper, rougher voice urging him to relax his grip.

Tony’s brows furrowed. ‘Relax his grip—?’

Eyes snapping open, Tony nearly had a heart attack when he realized two people were standing in front of him.

‘Woah, woah. It’s alright, Honey.’ Pepper Potts said, hands flying out in front of her.

Tony instantly relaxed.

Pepper.

Rhodey.

 _Safe_.

Relaxing back against the couch and closing his eyes, Tony barely heard Pepper’s soft voice when she explained Rhodey was going to carry Peter to bed. Releasing his firm grip on the kid, he allowed Rhodey to take Peter, cracking an eye open to make sure his friend would be able to carry the teenager with his robotic legs, before closing it shut and allowing a wave of exhaustion to take him back under.

Later, Pepper would coax Tony awake enough to walk down the hallway to their bedroom, but he would not make it further than their bedroom couch before he passed out again, sleeping soundly for the next eight hours straight.

400 AM EST

Peter woke abruptly. This time there was no lapse in awareness or memory. He remembered _everything_.

Glancing over at the Ironman clock Tony had bought him as a gag gift, Peter was not surprised to see it was the middle of the night. He had slept the whole day, then fell asleep again hours before he typically would. Grief and uncertainty were exhausting. Feeling completely awake, Peter idly wondered if he should ask FRIDAY if Mr. Stark was awake. He decided against it though, assuming the older man would have probably already knocked on his door if he was.

Running a hand through his hair, Peter pushed the covers of his bed back and unintentionally crept to the wardrobe in the corner of his room to get a change of clothes. It was habit for Peter, who had grown up in a squeaky, squawky old apartment to not make so much as peep in the middle of the night. Ben and May desperately needed what rest they could, and Peter was loath to be the reason that rest was interrupted.

Entering the attached bathroom, Peter quickly stripped his clothes, hopping in the ginormous shower and taking a long, hot shower. After what had to be at least an hour, Peter hopped out, quickly drying himself off and running a toothbrush over his teeth.

After leaving the bathroom, Peter nervously paced for a few moments, unsure of what to do with himself. Doing a quick glance over of his bedroom (a thought that still made his head spin), Peter made his bed and picked up a few odds and ends before resuming his nervous pace.

‘Peter? You seem agitated. Would you like for me to alert Mr. Stark?’ Jumping when the voice of Mr. Stark’s AI, FRIDAY, interrupted his nervous musings, it took Peter a moment to respond. ‘What? No, no, no. I’m fine. No need to wake anybody.’

‘I could alert Miss. Potts or Colonel Rhodes if you would prefer—?’

‘No. Nope. Seriously, I’m fine FRI. I’m just—’, Peter paused momentarily. ‘Bored, I’m bored.’ He concluded, hoping it would be enough for the AI to leave him alone and not alert anybody.

‘In that case, might I suggest utilizing your mobile device.’ Peter openly gaped at the ceiling for a couple of seconds before realizing he had not even picked up his cellphone since Mrs. Walker had called him the night before. It was a good suggestion. Asking FRIDAY to direct him towards his phone, Peter nearly lunged for the mobile device, teenage phone separation anxiety suddenly clawing at his chest.

Giving a silent thanks to Mr. Stark who had apparently plugged it in to charge, Peter booted it up, foot tapping impatiently as it slowly loaded. As soon the home screen was up though, Peter was assaulted with a litany of missed calls and text messages.

_Ding_

_Ding_

_Ding_

_Ding_

_Ding_

Peter cringed, pulling up the first text message.

‘Guy in The Chair’

DID U OVERSLEEP??? WHERE R U?

DUDE SRSLY WHERE R U? WE HAVE A TEST IN SPANISH.

PETER R U OK? U DIDNT GET HURT DOING U KNOW WHAT DID U?

PETER SRSLY WHERE R U?

PETER?

‘MJ’

ANSWER THE PHONE PARKER. NED IS FREAKING OUT AND IF I HAVE TO LISTEN TO ONE MORE WORD COME OUT OF HIS MOUTH ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE I AM GOING TO VOMIT.

PETER ANSWER THE PHONE.

PETER?

ARE YOU OKAY?

‘Mrs. Leeds’

PETER, SWEETIE NED IS REALLY WORRIED ABOUT YOU, PLEASE GIVE HIM A CALL WHEN YOU CAN.

Peter instantly felt horrible. He had not even thought of Ned, MJ, or school since the night before. Pulling up his messages, he replied to Ned and MJ in their group chat.

‘The Three Musketeers’

HEY, I’M ALIVE SRY FOR WORRYING U GUYS

MAY WAS IN AN ACCIDENT LAST NIGHT

IT WAS BAD

SHES IN THE HOSPITAL

IM WITH MR STARK

A full five seconds had not even gone by when his phone rung despite the early hour.

‘Hey—’ Peter barely got out before Ned was interrupting him.

‘Dude I thought you were dead. Oh man, I am so sorry. Is May going to be alright? You are staying with Mr. Stark, like at THE Avengers Compound? That is so cool, but not really because of May. Are any of the other Avengers there? Oh, is War Machine there? Oh and what about—’

‘NED.’

Peter stifled a laugh. Ned was Ned, no matter the situation.

‘Sorry man.’

‘No problem, May—I don’t know. It’s bad. Yeah, I’m at the Avengers Compound and yeah, Mr. Rhodey flew in from DC tonight. I didn’t get to see him, but FRIDAY says he is here.’

‘Oh man. I’m sorry Peter. W-What are you going to do about school?’ Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair. ‘I have no idea man. I guess I need to talk to Mr. Stark, but I don’t know. It’s a-a lot right now.’

Ned and Peter would end up talking for over an hour, MJ joining them for the last 15 minutes when she woke up and checked her phone to see if Peter had replied. When Peter ended the phone call a little after five o’clock in the morning, he felt lighter than he had in over 24 hours. While they had briefly talked about May, Ned and MJ had tag teamed throughout to conversation to keep it flowing from one unimportant topic to the next—‘Dude, Flash got whacked in the face with a dodgeball during gym class. He has a bruise the size of an elephant on his face.’

‘The customer in front of me at Delmar’s had to suddenly leave because his wife went in to labour, Mr. Delmar gave me his sandwich for free.’

‘Between Ned whining about you, and Flash after gym, I didn’t even have to go to detention to draw.’

Peter grinned. Getting up from his desk chair, Peter meandered his way back over to his full bed (it was actually a twin over full bed with a trundle **and** built-in shelves, but Peter got anxious if he thought too much about Mr. Stark buying a $700 bed for him _just_ to use a couple of days every week). Laying back down, Peter swallowed, grin slipping off his face when he realized he would likely be sleeping here for the foreseeable future.

It was not that Peter was unappreciative. He _loved_ his bedroom at the Compound. It had began as a guest room down the hall from Mr. Stark and Miss. Potts’ bedroom and over time it had slowly been converted into a room fit for a teenage superhero. The first change had been the wall colour.

Peter had come to drop off his bookbag and overnight bag one evening to discover Mr. Stark and Miss. Potts’ had painted the room a dark navy blue with a Spiderman red accent wall. The next weekend he had discovered the addition of five, rare, framed Star Wars posters, SIGNED by members of the original cast. Peter had nearly fainted.

After that it was little things.

A new (not yet released to the general public) Lego set.

A wooden peg board with several casual photos of Peter and Mr. Stark pinned to it (The first time Mr. Stark saw it, he had began to apologize profusely, swearing it was Miss. Potts or Mr. Rhodey who had hung it up behind his back. Peter had just grinned, promptly shutting the older man up by asking if they could have FRIDAY take a couple of more to hang up).

An entire bag of Avenger-themed fidget toys for his computer desk after he had nearly made himself sick from anxiety after failing a history test over World War 2, complaining his attention wondered far too easily when he was trying to study for the ‘boring subject’.

And about a dozen different Ironman-themed gadgets Mr. Stark had bought for him as a joke (the joke was on the older man though, because Peter secretly adored every single item, particularly his Ironman clock and Ironman nightlight).

Peter was grateful but he would be lying if he did not admit he was already missing his bedroom in Queens. The little blue bedroom on the fifth floor of their rundown apartment building in Queens was his shelter. His place of safety. Of security. Maybe it did not make sense. After all, it was where Uncle Ben and Aunt May told him his parents had died in a plane crash. It was where something _unspeakable_ had occurred when he was nine years old. It was where he had received the phone call about May.

But it was also where Uncle Ben and Aunt May sandwiched him in-between them and read him bedtime stories every night. It was where he met ( _officially_ ) Mr. Stark for the first time. It was where he and Ned put together a hundred and one Lego sets, and ate way too much pizza (even before Peter had a metabolism to rival Captain America’s).

It was his.

Blinking back yet another round of what seemed like never ending tears, Peter huffed at himself and angrily wiped the tears away. The same thoughts that had been spiraling around in his head before his phone call with Ned and MJ, began to spin again. What about school? The Compound was hours away from Midtown. What about May? How long would she have to stay in an induced coma? What would happen when they took her out of it? What is she woke up—wrong? What happened _after_ , when May recovered and had to do physical therapy or whatever? What about the cost?

What happened after if May—

Peter blanched, swallowing heavily.

What happened after if May did not survive?

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Peter closed his eyes, Mr. Stark’s voice ringing in his head. In for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight. Four—Seven—Eight. Four—Seven—Eight. Four—Seven—Eight. Four—Seven—Eight. Peter opened his eyes. Grabbing one of the dozen pillows on his bed, Peter held it to his chest and tried to calm his still racing heart.

Taking another deep breath, Peter was surprised when his nose detected the scent of— Pancakes?

Pushing himself off the bed, Peter haphazardly tossed the pillow behind him, quickly and quietly exiting the room, creeping down the hallway. Unsure of what he was going to find, he was certainly not expecting to find Miss. Potts and Mr. Rhodey arguing in low voices about if cream or milk was better to make pancakes.

‘Buttermilk.’ Peter answered, grinning when both adults jumped.

Miss. Potts was the first to recover, rushing over to tightly hug the boy.

‘Oh sweetheart. I’m so sorry.’

Peter could not stop the sniffle from coming out.

Pulling back and quickly running the sleeve of his shirt over his eyes, Peter mumbled out a croaky, ‘Thank you’, before awkwardly waving to Mr. Rhodey, who rolled his eyes and walked over (as fast as his robotic legs would allow him) to hug the young man.

‘Seriously Kid, after all we have been through together and you think you can get away with a wave. I thought you and I had bonded over beating Tony’s as— Pepper coughed, ‘butt, beating Tony’s _butt_ in Mario Kart.’

Miss. Potts rolled her eyes.

Peter briefly laughed, making both Pepper and Rhodey smile.

For a moment, an awkward silence descended over the kitchen. Peter shuffled his feet, laughter trailing off. Miss. Potts and Mr. Rhodey looked anxiously at each other. Peter nervously coughed, eyes darting around the kitchen. Sensing the awkwardness was not going to disappear anytime soon, Peter took a deep breath before doing what he did best in uncomfortable situations— Nervously rambling a hundred miles an hour.

‘Uncle Ben always made his pancakes with buttermilk. Did you know buttermilk is a healthier substitute for traditional milk? Buttermilk is perfect for people with high cholesterol. It helps people to lose weight. Um, it can heal skin damage. It can be fresh or frozen. Oh, and it can help detox and rinse out your body—’

‘Alright’, Miss. Potts interrupted.

‘On that note, Rhodey will go finish making the pancakes, _with_ buttermilk, and you and I can go talk for a little bit.’ Pepper said, eyes swimming with amusement as she gently grabbed Peter’s arm and led him out of the kitchen (Peter could still hear Rhodey snickering when they left the room).

Leading him to the same couch he had fallen asleep on the evening before, Pepper motioned for the boy to sit down beside her. Turning her body to face his, Pepper sweetly smiled at the boy, reaching over to nudge a piece of hair out of his eyes. Peter blushed, eyes darting to side in embarrassment. It did not last long though.

‘I talked to the hospital a few minutes ago. They said May did great overnight. Would you like to go see her in a couple of hours?’

Peter eagerly nodded.

‘Yes, please.’

Pepper nodded, smiling sadly at the boy. ‘I also wanted to talk to you about school. I talked to Midtown yesterday and they are aware of what is going on. We arranged for all of your assignments to be sent to you virtually or via Ned or MJ. You can take as much time off as you would like.’ Peter slowly nodded, feeling simultaneously relieved and anxious.

Biting his lip, Peter hesitated before asking the question that had been on his mind all morning.

‘W-What abou-about afterwards? When I decide to go back to school? Like, i-if I have to stay here for a while? Is there a-a b-bus route I c-c-could take to get back to the city?’

Pepper’s eyes crinkled in confusion. ‘A bus route? What—No sweetie. Tony told me yesterday he is moving back to the Tower for a while. He is already having a room made for you there. It will still be a bit of a drive to school every morning, but Tony or Happy will get you there, I promise.’

This time it was Peter’s turn to be confused.

‘The Tower? The Avengers Tower? I thought Mr. Stark sold it?’

Pepper frowned momentarily, before realization dawned on her face.

‘Oh sweetie. I thought you knew. Tony never sold the Tower. It was all a ruse. Yes, we sold several _floors_ of the Tower, but Stark Industries still owns 95% of the Tower. We made a deal with the company who bought the floors to publicly announce they had ‘bought’ Stark Tower. Because of the continued risk to our employees, even after Tony reverted it back to ‘Stark Tower’, we had already, slowly, been moving all of our operations to various other locations fulltime over the last few years.’

Peter instantly understood.

‘So, no one was surprised when you announced you were suspending all operations in New York City indefinitely and ‘selling’ the Tower. No one, aka the press, would be curious enough to go snooping around.’

Pepper smiled widely.

‘Exactly, it allowed us to retain the Tower, without putting ourselves and our neighbors at further risk of attack from crazy people with a vendetta against Tony or the Avengers.’

Peter nodded understandingly, a thoughtful look on his face.

Pepper’s face fell though, mistaking the look on Peter’s face for being upset.

‘Oh no, Peter, sweetie, I don’t think Tony kept it from you purposefully.’

Peter looked up alarmed.

‘No, no, I’m not upset Miss. Potts. I was just thinking, I-I-I’m relieved.’ Peter took a deep breath before continuing. ‘I-I’ve been stressing all morning about school and where I was going to live. I m-mean Ned and MJ can take notes for me, b-b-but Ned isn’t in chemistry or biology, and history is already kind of weird because Mrs. Matthews is on maternity leave, and Mr. Harrington is taking over American history for the rest of the semester, he said he minored in history, but no one is really sure because he’s kind of stuck on the Civil War, like he showed up to class one day in full Civil War garb, and the only class I have with MJ besides history is language arts, and—’

Peter abruptly stopped midsentence, cheeks turning the colour of tomatoes, when he realized he had basically been word vomiting for the last two minutes.

To either his utter relief or utter humiliation, he was not sure which, Miss. Potts giggled before apologizing.

‘I’m sorry sweetie, you remind me of Tony when he’s nervous.’

Peter snorted disbelievingly.

‘No, no it’s true. You should have seen him before we started dating. But anyway—‘, Pepper waved her hands dismissively. ‘I am so sorry you were worried about all that Peter. Tony and I wanted to talk to you about everything this morning, but I see we probably should have had this conversation last night.’

‘You mean, _I should_ have had this conversation last night.’

Both Pepper and Peter jumped when Tony’s voice reverberated throughout the living area.

Shuffling over to the couch, Tony leaned over to kiss Pepper and ruffle Peter’s hair. Sitting down beside Peter, Tony wrapped an arm around the boy, stifling a yawn with the other.

‘I’m sorry, Kid. I should have known you would be stressing about everything this morning. And about the Tower. It was an honest mistake, Underoos. For some reason I thought you knew I hadn’t really sold it.’

Peter quickly shook his head.

‘It’s okay, Mr. Stark. Really, I’m not mad.’

Mr. Stark squeezed the arm around the boy tighter.

‘You’re too forgiving Kid. Anyways, since I am already screwing this up, I probably should have asked you if you even wanted to live at the Tower, huh?’

‘No, no, I don’t care where we live, I mean, yes, I DO care, but shoot, um you know what I mean Mr. Stark.’

Mr. Stark and Miss. Potts both laughed, making Peter’s cheeks turn bright red again.

Tony’s laughter almost instantly sobered though.

‘Pete—’, Tony cleared his throat, reaching over to squeeze Pepper’s outstretched hand, before trying again. ‘Peter, I know I’m not May and I know I am probably going to screw the pooch a hundred different ways, but we are in this together Kid. You have to let me know when you are upset about something or if I do something to screw up without realizing it. You could have woken me up this morning.’

Peter sighed. ‘I know, but you needed the sleep—’, Peter raised his hand and went on when Mr. Stark tried to interrupt, ‘and I got to talk to Ned and MJ, and then I heard Mr. Rhodey and Miss. Potts up, it was fine.’

Tony released Pepper’s hand, reaching up the pinch the bridge of his nose.

‘Agree to disagree Kid, speaking of Honey Bear though, I’m starving. Let’s go eat.’

Peter did not have to be told twice, stomach (loudly) grumbling.

Hopping of the couch, he allowed Mr. Stark and Miss. Potts to go ahead of him, pausing for a moment to swallow the lump in his throat. Mr. Stark had been toeing the line between mentor and father figure/coparent for the last year, and today the balance seemed to have tipped in a direction Peter never saw coming that day Mr. Stark showed up at his apartment in Queens. It simultaneously excited and scared the crap out of Peter.

He had already lost three parents and a fourth was clinging to life in a hospital in Queens. Peter often joked about ‘Parker Luck’, but lately he could not help but feel like it was true. He was cursed, and if he were, what would that mean for Miss. Potts and Mr. Stark? Was he putting their lives in danger? Part of him knew his internal dialogue was ridiculous, but the other (and louder) part of him said too many bad things had happened to him in his short life.

On the verge of hyperventilating, Peter took a deep breath. Four—Seven—Eight. Four—Seven—Eight. This, this was different. Mr. Stark was Ironman. Mr. Stark had already survived the unthinkable. It was going to be alright.

Everything would be alright.

Peter was not cursed.

May was going to survive.

Mr. Stark was going to be alright.

He had to.

He had to be alright, because Peter could not survive losing another parent.

‘Peter?’

Peter jumped, eyes meeting Mr. Stark’s across the room.

‘You alright?’

Peter nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Mr. Stark did not look like he believed him, but he motioned for the boy to follow him to the kitchen.

Plopping down in the seat closest to Mr. Stark, Peter thanked Colonel Rhodes when he placed a heaping pile of pancakes in front of him. Digging in, nearly inhaling the food, Peter carefully kept his eyes facing the table and _away_ from Mr. Stark who desperately trying (and failing) to catch his gaze. He had a feeling the man was going to ask about what happened in the living room and he was not ready to discuss it yet (or ever).

He almost sighed in relief when Mr. Rhodey asked them about their plans for the day.

Thankfully, the rest of breakfast was taken up with various discussions about what the four would be doing for the rest of the day. All four would go to see May at the hospital, before they went their separate ways for the rest of the morning. Colonel Rhodes and Miss. Potts had a couple of errands to take care of, while Mr. Stark and Peter would go to the Tower to take a look at where they would be living for the next little while. The four would then reunite in the afternoon at the Compound where they, ‘would eat copious amounts of junk food and watch enough terrible sci-fi movies to last them an entire lifetime’.

At least, that was the plan.

Peter should have known better.

Several hours after their early morning conversation, the three adults and Peter would be forced to stand by helplessly as doctors and nurses rushed all around them. Peter would never have another nightmare about the Vulture or the building collapsing on him again, instead, all of his nightmares would revolve around the events of that morning.

_‘We’re losing her.’_

_‘She’s flatlining.’_

_‘Come on Nurse Parker, don’t do this to us.’_

_‘May, May it’s Kiara. You have to fight.’_

_‘Give me a shot of epi.’_

_‘Charge to—’_

_‘Crap— Asystole.’_


	6. Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains GRIEF, MOURNING, and HEAVY ANGST. Chapter 6 skips throughout the days and weeks after where we left off in Chapter 5.

CHAPTER SIX

**Six Weeks Ago**

It had been over forty-five minutes since they had arrived at the hospital.

They had been halfway down the hallway to May’s room when it happened.

_‘We’re losing her.’_

_‘She’s flatlining.’_

_‘Come on Nurse Parker, don’t do this to us.’_

_‘May, May it’s Kiara. You have to fight.’_

_‘Give me a shot of epi.’_

_‘Charge to—’_

_‘Crap— Asystole.’_

Since then, they had been shuffled away to sit in a decrepit looking waiting room that had clearly seen better days. The burgundy reddish seats were torn and hard. The wallpaper was obviously from the 70s, and Tony thought he could vaguely make out a lime greenish paint underneath it. Fidgeting, Tony carefully shifted his weight. He was secretly dying to get up and move, but Peter’s feet were in his lap (his head pillowed in Pepper’s lap) and Tony would rather deal with a sore butt than move the distraught boy.

‘H-Hey guys—’, Kiara’s voice reverberated throughout the room.

Peter nearly fell to the floor trying to dislodge himself from Tony and Pepper.

Sparing a glance at Peter to make sure he was alright. Tony immediately turned his attention to the doctor standing beside May’s friend.

Dr. Carter sighed before walking over to kneel down beside Peter. Placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, Dr. Carter grimaced. He hated this part of his job.

‘Peter, we were able to get May’s heart started back, but— But she had been without oxygen to her brain for about 45 minutes. We did a scan, Peter— I’m sorry. May has no brain activity.’

Pepper gasped.

Rhodey buried his head in his hands.

Tony— Tony did not know what to do.

‘W-What does t-t-that mean?’ Peter asked.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

‘It means May is clinically dead sweetheart.’ It was Pepper and not the doctor who answered, although Dr. Carter nodded his head in agreement.

‘Oh—’, Peter blinked.

‘Ohhhh—’

_Peter crumbled._

**FOUR DAYS AFTER THAT MORNING**

_‘No brain activity—’_

_‘Clinically brain dead—’_

‘Mr. Stark, Peter— I’d like you to meet our transplant coordinator.’

**ONE WEEK AFTER THAT MORNING**

LIVING ROOM – PENTHOUSE SUITE – STARK TOWER – MIDTOWN MANHATTEN, NEW YORK CITY

‘All the funeral arrangements have been made.’

‘Hey man, I found the contact information for May’s cousin in Italy.’

‘I spoke to Mrs. Leeds. She is going to bring Ned and MJ to the funeral. They are going to sit up front with us.’

‘Do— Do you think Peter would like to speak at the funeral?’

PETER’S BEDROOM – PENTHOUSE SUITE – STARK TOWER – MIDTOWN MANHATTEN, NEW YORK CITY

Peter closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands. He did not want to listen to the three adults discuss his aunt’s f-f-funeral. It was too raw— It was too— too impossible. 

He was dreaming. There was no way this could be true. His parents were gone. Uncle Ben was gone. Aunt May was— Aunt May was not gone. Aunt May was working. Aunt May was out with her friends. Aunt M-May was, was— Aunt May was gone. May was gone.

She had promised.

She had promised Peter she would never leave him alone.

Maybe, M-Maybe it was a mix-up. Maybe it was all a horrible mistake.

Realistically, he knew the truth. He had seen his aunt, before and after they had donated her organs.

**FLASHBACK – ONE WEEK AGO**

Within seconds of the realization hitting him, _Peter crumbled_. His entire world came crashing down around him. Terror and shock spread over his body like wildfire. An icy sensation crept down his spine. His ‘Spidey-Sense’ went haywire. He was vaguely aware of shouting, ‘No’, and Tony and Pepper’s arms encircling him. He was vaguely aware of when he finally gave in and started to sob. He was _not_ aware of when he grabbed handfuls of his curly brown hair, pulling them taut, and Tony having to untangle his hands gently, but hurriedly from their solid grip.

He was so distraught, he barely noticed when Dr. Carter stepped out of the room and Pepper left their three-way hug to comfort Mrs. Walker who was softly crying in the corner of the room. He also had no recollection of asking, ‘C-Can I see h-h-her?’— Or the (long) walk down the hallway to May’s room.

He _was_ aware of the moment they arrived outside of May’s hospital room. He _was_ aware of when he asked Mr. Stark and Miss. Potts to allow him to go in by himself. He _was_ aware of the silent conversation Tony and Pepper had with their eyes. He _was_ aware when Tony and Pepper nodded their heads in permission.

He stepped into the room. 

He was _not_ aware when his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his knees buckled underneath him.

Peter woke up several hours later in his own hospital room. He would later learn Mr. Stark was not able to catch him in time and he busted his head open, requiring about half a dozen stitches. He _also_ learned (although Mr. Rhodey swore him to secrecy about it) that Mr. Stark had such a bad panic attack after Peter fainted, that he had to be sedated and had only woken up several minutes prior to Peter’s own awakening.

**END FLASHBACK**

Peter tiredly closed his eyes. He did not want to think about _that_ day. He did not want to think about speaking at May’s funeral. Rolling over to bury his head in his pillow, Peter allowed sleep to take him once again. It was not a perfect solution, but it was enough to subdue his grief for a little while— And right now, a little while was enough. 

**ONE MONTH AFTER THAT MORNING**

PENTHOUSE SUITE – STARK TOWER – MIDTOWN MANHATTEN, NEW YORK CITY

‘He’s just— He’s grieving Tony.’

Tony ran a hand through his hair. He looked terrible. He knew he looked terrible. He had not slept a full night since May died. On the rare occasion Tony actually made it to bed, it was almost certain FRIDAY would wake him up before the night was out. Peter never slept. Ever.

It was the complete opposite of the first week after May died when Peter slept all day, _every day_. Even getting him through the funeral had been nearly impossible. He and Rhodey basically had to dress the boy themselves. Peter refused to eat, claiming he was nauseous. He slept the whole way to the Church in Queens, and it had taken both men to support the wobbly-legged teen into the nearly 300-year-old building.

The boy had been completely out of it, not even acknowledging Ned and MJ. He was silent for the first few minutes of the ceremony, before the minister made a (rather reckless, in Tony’s opinion) comment about May not being there when Peter graduated from college. For obvious reasons, it seemed to startle the boy out of his comalike state. Unfortunately, it had also resulted in the boy weeping throughout the rest of the funeral.

Since that day, Peter rarely, _if ever_ , slept. He would stay up for three or four days in a row before the exhaustion overtook him, and he would (mercifully) doze off for an hour or two, before he woke up screaming. Some nights, Tony was able to coax the boy back to sleep by rubbing his back and talking about nonsensical things until Peter’s breathing evened out again. It was an unending, _horrid_ cycle though, and just like clockwork, the boy would wakeup screaming after an hour or two. Tony was exhausted.

Peter was exhausted.

Everybody was exhausted.

If Peter was awake, Tony was awake. He refused to sleep knowing the grieving boy was unable (or unwilling) to sleep.

Nobody knew what to do. At first, Peter threw himself into his schoolwork, reading ahead and completing all of his work ahead of time. But then, the exhaustion caught up with the boy and he was barely able to keep his eyes open, nevertheless read the tiny, blurry (thanks to his ever constant red and watery eyes) text in his textbooks. After that, he stopped doing his work altogether.

He barely left his room. He alternated from phases of binge drinking coffee and eating enough sugary products to kill an elephant, to barely taking a sip of water and outright refusing to eat anything for days on end. Some days, he would acknowledge Tony and Pepper, offering a wave in greeting, nodding yes or no to their questions, reacting with a twitch of a smile to the hundreds of Disney and Star Wars movies Tony had FRIDAY play for the boy. Other ( _most_ ) days, he was completely catatonic.

Tony was at his wits end.

Pepper and Dr. Cho were both advocating for sleeping medication until Peter’s insomnia was cured.

Rhodey was pushing for the boy to see a child psychologist.

Tony— Tony was not sure what to do.

The idea of sleeping medication scared him. It seemed _so_ extreme, but the idea of finding a child psychologist who could deal with Peter’s _past_ trauma, _present_ trauma, _and_ Spiderman seemed ridiculously daunting (and Tony was almost certain the boy would refuse to talk to a stranger). 

He _knew_ Peter was grieving. He did. However, he was not sure how much longer they could go on like this. Grief had no timeline, but Tony did not think they could physically _or_ emotionally survive much longer. Everyday felt like drowning. If felt like— If felt like the waves would overtake them and Tony was almost certain the day was coming when they would not resurface. 

**SIX WEEKS AFTER THAT MORNING**

PENTHOUSE SUITE – STARK TOWER – MIDTOWN MANHATTEN, NEW YORK CITY

Peter slowly shuffled into the kitchen. A blanket loosely wrapped around his shoulders.

Tony unconsciously held his breath, wondering what kind of mood the boy would be in today.

Sitting down at the barstool, Peter shyly smiled at Tony, asking what was for breakfast.

Tony could have jumped for joy. He could barely contain his excitement, a smile blooming over his tired face.

He knew the bad days were not over (far from it) but the kid was actually asking for food. Real food. He was not catatonic. He was not barely offering the older man a wave in greeting before plopping himself down on the couch. He was talking. He was _smiling_. He was asking for breakfast. 

‘Pancakes?’

‘Waffles?’

‘French Toast?’

Peter laughed.

Tony beamed.

‘All three?’ Peter asked jokingly.

Tony nearly felt giddy.

‘FRIDAY, I’m making the pancakes. Order waffles and French toast from that little diner Pep and I like. Oh, and add a side of bacon and sausage for me, and two sides each of bacon, sausage, and fruit for the Spiderling.’

Peter spluttered. ‘Mr. Stark— I was kidding.’

‘Well, I’m not. Chocolate chip or blueberry?’

For a moment, Peter did not answer. Mouth hanging open.

‘Chocolate chip or blueberry?’ Tony prompted the boy again.

Peter shook his head before laughing.

‘You are ridiculous, Mr. Stark, and what about— Chocolate chip blueberry?’

Tony felt like his face was going to split in half.

‘Chocolate chip blueberry it is.’

An hour later, Tony thought he might never be able to move again.

Peter, on the other hand, was still happily munching on the remnants of a breakfast fit for a king.

Tony was not sure if he was bursting from the copious amount of carbs he had ate or from pure unadulterated happiness. Peter seemed like— Like Peter. Like Peter _before_.

Tony thought he might be on cloud nine. It was irrational, of course. Peter was not going to be magically cured of his grief overnight. Tony knew all too well.

Grief came in waves.

Rolling waves.

But today was the first day in a long time he thought they might just get the boy through this whole ordeal.

It was the first day Tony felt _hope_.

Swallowing the lump that was building in his throat, Tony looked fondly at the boy he was now responsible for raising.

They would get through this.

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I know. I know. It has been a WHILE. I did have some computer difficulties, but honestly this was an extremely problematic chapter to write. There is no accurate representation of grief. Nobody grieves exactly the same. It was tough. 
> 
> If you guys are waiting for the happier, less angsty, chapters. They will come, I promise. Peter will always grieve for his aunt, but he will learn to live with it. 
> 
> We will (eventually) get to see the rest of the Avengers come back and how Tony and Peter deal with that. I am super pro-Avengers Family, and that is 100% going to happen. We just have to get around to it.


End file.
